Study asks whether characters' dark expressions could affect children who play with them

A new study from New Zealand reports that the faces on miniature Lego figurines have become increasingly furious, sad and disgusted over the past 24 years, and it asks whether the toys could affect the emotions of the toddlers who play with them.

Researchers at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, charted a sharp rise in new facial expressions on Lego “minifigures” since 1989. “Happy” and “angry” faces were represented the most, but happy faces have gradually declined while angry, disgusted, surprised, sad and scared faces rose.

The report has gained international attention — Legos are sold in 130 countries, with more than 36 billion of the popular plastic bricks produced in 2010.

“The big question all the reporters ask me is if the toys are evil and will it make my kid evil,” study co-author Christoph Bartneck said in a phone interview Thursday from the university’s Human Interface Technology Laboratory. “Our study was never intended to study that.”

Face time

If Bartneck had a Lego face, it would probably register as bewildered, because he’s been overwhelmed by the tidal wave of attention the study has attracted.

He said he conducted the research, not because he was concerned about how children’s emotions are impacted by the minifigure faces, but because he was fascinated by how Lego designers have come up with more than 600 unique expressions for the tiny plastic cylinders over the years.

“I was amazed by the beauty and complexity of the emotions, so I made a catalog of these expressions ... because I’m a guy who likes to put things in order,” he said.

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The university’s HIT Lab studies how humans interact with technology, be it Legos, robots or video game characters. Although Bartneck doesn’t study the connection between violent games and human behavior, he said scientists in his field have yet to draw a clear connection.

“Philosophically, I think we shape the tools and toys and the tools and toys shape us, but it’s very hard to study in terms of establishing causal relationships,” he said.

Lego evolution

During the first 11 years minifigures were manufactured, they all had simplistic happy faces. But in 1989, Lego toys began evolving with more play sets tied into aggressive action themes (pirates, ninjas, space and Old West) and film and TV characters (Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, “Star Wars”). Lego officials say the facial expressions on the minifigures were developed as the result of the company’s research with young children.

“Often, fantasy role play revolves around the natural tension between good and bad, which is a natural part of a child’s development,” Amanda Santoro, Lego’s brand relations manager, said in a statement. “Since 1989, Lego minifigure expressions have evolved to reflect different emotions consistent with the feedback we hear from children who want more authentic details with which to carry out their story play. With more than 4.2 billion Lego minifigures produced since 1978, the range of facial expressions has grown to include a wide range of emotions while maintaining an appropriate balance for any child’s creative storytelling needs.”

The Lego minifigures are so popular with small children, in fact, that they’re sold in multipacks at Lego stores, including the one in Fashion Valley and at the Legoland California theme park in Carlsbad.

Role playing

One local psychologist said that giving children toys with strong expressions can help them understand their own emotions.

“Toys with angry faces will probably lead to more pretend play that involves conflict, but this isn’t necessarily a problem,” said Gail D. Heyman, a professor of psychology at UC San Diego. “Children need to figure out how to manage negative emotions, and play is one way they can go about it. Developmental psychologists tend to think that it’s good for children to hear stories that involve negative emotions because it will help them to work though their own feelings, and I don’t think toys are any different in this regard.” Nevertheless, Heyman said that there may be some sensitive children who could be impacted by the angry characters.

“For children who tend to focus exclusively on negative emotions or aggression, parents could try to steer them away from toys that encourage this tendency,” she said. “That said, children are very good at improvising, and it’s likely that if parents take angry-looking toys away, their children will find other toys that can serve the same purpose.”

Child’s eye view

Perhaps the best expert to ask is Sabre Springs resident Ben Carpowich, a Lego fanatic who finished first grade Thursday at Morning Creek Elementary School.

Parents Tammy and Steve Carpowich say their 7-year-old son is so obsessed with the minifigures that he has collected nearly 70 of them and he has a book of photographs that profile the different characters and their faces and accessories.

“He enjoys fantasy play and the different faces play into that,” said Tammy, who said she drives Ben to Legoland California theme park regularly so he can spend his allowance on new minifigures. “I don’t think the faces are inappropriate and it hasn’t really been an issue in our house.”

Ben says that when he grows up he’d like to design minifigures for Lego, starting with new characters for the Ninjago warrior series.

“I like how each one has a different face so they can be happy or angry or confused,” he said. “And I like the ones that are double-sided where they can be happy on one side and serious on the other.”

Ben said that playing with angry minifigures doesn’t make him angry. It just makes acting out the themes more realistic.

“If there’s a Roman soldier and a Roman commander and they both have angry faces, then I can make it a battle scene,” he said.